When shipping markets start to move into the next phase of the cycle following a downturn, sometimes the percentage increases in earnings can look very impressive indeed. But of course they’re generally from a low base. With some of the shipping sectors now moving into a new phase, how else might the improvements be put into a helpful context?

2017 is shaping up to be a record year for secondhand sales volumes. Meanwhile, newbuilding activity remains at historically low levels. As a result, the ratio of secondhand to newbuild activity has surged, and while this is an indication of the current market environment, it might also be interpreted as an indicator of the ‘market mechanism’ starting to re-balance industry fundamentals.

Historically, the fuel of choice for the vast majority of large cargo ships has been heavy fuel oil. But in 2020, sulphur oxide emissions will be capped to 0.5% by IMO convention, ruling out current standard grades of HFO. Both fuel consumers in the shipping industry and producers in the refining industry have now had a little time to consider the potential options to deal with the imminent regulatory change…

Since remote antiquity the essential importance of energy to human civilization has been well appreciated: in ancient Greek mythology for example, it was the secret of fire that the Titan Prometheus stole from the gods and gifted to mankind. Today the still increasing energy needs of humanity are greater and more diverse than ever before. And in this energy tale, shipping of course plays a titanic role…

The world of seaborne trade spreads across a wide range of commodities and goods. But in terms of growth, at any point in time some elements look overweight or underweight compared to their share of trade in total. And once distance by sea comes into the equation, things can be even more complex. This week’s Analysis examines the tale of the scales since the downturn of 2009.

Container shipping is often thought of as the ‘glue’ which keeps the world economy turning, providing a low unit cost way of moving both manufactures and a range of other goods between producers and consumers around the world. As such, container ports and terminals are crucial nodes in the world’s transportation system, and their sheer number and ubiquity merits a close look.

The development of the global merchant fleet is affected by a very broad range of interwoven supply and demand factors, including shipping and commodity cycles, investor sentiment, regulatory concerns, yard capacity and so on. Another factor is shore-side infrastructure projects, which can be tricky to disentangle from the wider web, though this influence is a little clearer on, for example, the LNG carrier sector…